House Serothi
One of the Great Houses of Volcania, the noble House Serothi is making inroads into the Hellenistic Empire in order to compete with the College of Hermes as the preeminent college of Magic. The House is small, but a small town is growing, literally because it's made of giant mushroom cuttings, outside of Phaeselis proper but within the boundaries of 50 miles in any direction. Growing outside in the Halfling Vale by a little cove is the city of Barad Romenya. The building material is living, mostly from fungi cuttings. They are starting small, with a nuclear family with a lot of influence, but are planning to grow as a house. They are recruiting novices who have talent in magic. House Serothi is made up of a nuclear family of Volcanian dark elf wizards. The Serothi wizards number five. They are a father and a husband; a wife and mother; two sons and a daughter. A grandfather, Neloth, also followed, but he isn't the patriarch of the family. He exists in his own tower, in the Phoenix Valley. House Serothi is said to be very insular on Volcania, but here in Phaeselis, they are quietly aggressive. No one seems to know what is going on, but they are trying to muscle in on the College of Hermes' territory. They picked probably the one place that is indifferent to magic in Hellenistic lands -- Phaeselis, the city of Psionics. The house is agressively competing with the College of Hermes and, also as consequence, the Sin Mages. The family maintains a giant mushroom tower in the Noble District. The most distinctive building in the whole city, the only way up is to use levitation. Family Members Gilsmyne Serothi (NG m Volcanian Elf, Wizard 12; knowledge: arcane 13, spellcraft 16): Gilsmyne Serothi is the patriarch of the Eastern branch of House Serothi. At 350 years old, the Volcanian Elf has more wisdom than most elves, but uses it to help his family succeed in Phaeselis. He wants the house to subplant the College of Hermes, whom he views as a competitor to his house's growth. Gilsmyne Serothi dwells in Barad Romenya. He's currently looking for apprentices. Nidrvamu Vadrvyn Serothi (LN f Volcanian Elf, Transmuter (Wizard) 10; skills: knowledge (arcane) 14, spellcraft 10): Nidrvamu Serothi is a specialist in transmutation and there are rumors that she also practices fleshcrafting. But these are just rumors amongst the more supersititous folk. At 320 years old, Nidrvamu is still doing transmuting experiments and testing the results. She denies anything having to do with fleshcrafting, however. Lyriaredhel Serothi (LN m Volcanian Elf, Alchemist 7; Knowledge: Mycology 10): the Family's Mycologist, he's the one that cares for Barad Romenya. Although his mother is responsible for planting the town's core mushroom towers, he is responsible for maintaining the small, mycological town. He makes sure Barad Romenya thrives and grows. He's only 200 years old. Selvsa Serothi (CN f Volcanian Elf, Sorcerer 12): The spoiled brat of the family, Selvsa is considered a strange girl who goes her own way. She was spoiled by her grandfather, and her parents never bothered to teach her morality and ethics. She grew up to rebel against wizardry and performs magic on instinct. She is looking for an apprentice, specifically male, that she can pass on her sorcery to . . . mostly so she can get shagged whenever she wants, and that she can easily manipulate with her sex. Gulsdel Serothi (NG m Volcanian Elf, Illusionist Wizard 7): the most charismatic of the Serothis, Gulsdel maintains Serothi Tower in Phaeselis in the Noble District. Well, actually one of his seven wives -- Malhala Nodlothi -- does. Gulsdel is the face of House Serothi and most probably the man whom the PCs will interact with the most, since he represents House Serothi on the Council of Nobles. Adventures Becoming an Apprentice House Serothi is on the look out for new apprentices. The personalities looking for new apprentices are Gilsmyne Serothi, Lyriaredhel Serothi, and Selvsa Serothi. The other two and their grandfather are not on the look out for new apprentices. Gulsdel has seven wives to take care of, so he doesn't have any time to train apprentices -- since he has a large family. Becoming an apprentice is as individual as the next. Gilsmyne may simply send the intended on a simple, but dangerous quest. Lyriaredhel may want his apprentice to make some potions, and Selvsa might take on the guise of a man, and then sexually seduce her apprentice during the night with her mindbending spells. The individual quests are up to each gamemaster according to the players' needs. Tasks as an Apprentice Adventures as an apprentice are as varied in their tasks. You might be asked to risk your life in dangerous experiments. Or you might be sent on quests to gather some interesting component for magic (Gilsmyne is notorious for wanting very exotic spell components -- parts from monsters of course). Here are a few ideas: Quest for the Manticore Stinger (EL 5) -- Gilsmyne wants the hero to retrieve a manticore stinger as a replacement component for a common spell (GM's choice). He wants the hero to go into the forest and retrieve one. He just needs one. Unfortunately, he sends you into a lair that contains a manticore family. He wants the hero to slay the father and bring back the stinger, but keep the mother and cubs alive. Manticore: CR 5, hp 57, Melee: bite +10 (1d8+5), Rake with two claws +10 (2d4+5) Quest for the Chimerae (various ELs) -- Despite being a mycologist, Lyriaredhel wants to be able to make a Chimera. This is fleshcrafting by Alchemy, which requires a Philosopher's Stone. Lyriaredhel already has the required Philosopher's Stone, he just wants to merge a lion, a snake, and a goat together as a living being. He thinks that the ancient Phoenicians did it and that the hero Bellerophon defeated the monster during his campaigns here in Phoenicia and he wants to replicate the results. The apprentice needs to gather a lion, a serpent, and a goat. After the three animals are gathered, Lyriaredhel begins his experiments in merging different living beings together. If this works, he can study how to merge living, thinking beings with animals (if the heroes can't find a snake, they can bring back a dragon or a flying serpent, instead). Selvsa's Aphrodisiac -- Dressed as a man who relunctantly teaches his apprentices magic, Selvsa has taken a liking to the hero and sends him on various quests. This time, Selvsa wants the hero to bring back an aphrodisiac. The aphrodisiac in question is said to be a passion fruit from the Land of Hesperidea. She doesn't expect her apprentice to brave the dangerous waters of the Ocean to cross to the land of Hesperidea, but she wants one just the same. Building your Stronghold After completing some of your quests for the noble house of Serothi, at some time you might be able to build your stronghold. Instead of building a traditional wizard's or sorcerer's tower of stone, the family architect Vevrvora Ralongi will want you to buy cleared land in the Cedar Forest so that she can construct a mushroom village for your stronghold. In order to build the stronghold, she wants you to quest to get two Philosopher's Stones which she will use as the anchor point for the sorcery that will be performed to grow your giant mushroom, she will also require the hero to obtain some fungus cuttings from Volcania found in the grand bazaar that contains spores. The mushroom village is grown in three stages, but your general construction contractor will be a human named Dusebios. Stage one is the growth of the initial cutting, and Vevrvora will want the hero to hire an alchemist as a mycologist that will maintain the village as it grows, and hire a steward to take care of the place. The hero will also be expected to find a treatise on steam powered bronze "golems" from the Lyceum and copy it. The second stage is a giant fruiting body that resembles a portabello mushroom that Dusebios and his crew begin to hollow out and should be complete when the hero has hired a mycologist and a steward. Stage three is the complete village, with three daughter mushrooms where the mycologist and the hero's steward can live. There is also space for an apprentice, a blacksmith, and a storekeeper. The hero can hire these. Notes *Merry Christmas to my players. *Some players may recognize that this house is based off of House Telvanni from the Elder Scrolls universe. Which is true. The names aren't used in game, I hope, but actually generated by a Dunmer name generator. *Yeah, the town name comes from Quenya. Category:Aristocratic Families